Love of Life
by Hanibi
Summary: KATAANG RAID! XD - Aang appreciates all the miracles Katara brings.


The village they decided to stay overnight at was small, but it was clean and the people were kind and warm. It was also good that they could stock up on food and supplies for the next few days.

Aang waited bored but patiently as his wife looked at the stands selling fruits, vegetables, and nuts. It was no longer surprising for him that she ignored the meat and fish. He had been noticing a gradual change in her eating habits, and her thinking, ever since she faced down her mother's killer. She had returned with far more respect for his values about holding all life sacred. It was never his intention to influence her that way. He had only urged her to not let herself be consumed with revenge.

But he also wondered if it had something to do with a sage's advice that airbending was a cultural trait. She wasn't keeping it a secret that she was hoping for "lots of little airbenders". Apparently, she was hoping a vegetarian and nomadic lifestyle would encourage that. That was entirely her idea too. Aang didn't care what their children turned out to be. He wasn't even sure if what determined bending was that simple anyway.

In any case, he appreciated it. The truth was, it helped him feel a little less alone to know that someone close to him every day held the same philosophy. Where his love for his people was reborn as his love for her, that extra step made him feel like his people were alive again.

But at the moment, Aang was still more bored than anything. So he was just as appreciative when he heard a timid little voice get his attention.

"Excuse me, Mr. Avatar, sir?"

Aang looked down to see a sad little girl in a kimono, holding something bundled in a small blanket.

Aang smiled and knelt down to her level. "Hi there. Is something wrong?"

"It's my puppy." She pulled away a corner of the blanket until he could see the creature's still form wheezing in her arms. "He's the smallest of the litter, and now he's sick. I've been trying to make him better, but my brother says he's.. he's going to die." she sniffled. "He says you're the Avatar and you can do anything. Can you help him?"

Aang's heart broke at the sight. "I'm sorry, but I don't have that kind of power." Before her hopes could be crushed completely, he smiled a bit. "But I think I know who does." He looked over to the stands and called out "Katara?"

"Yes, Aang?" his wife called back without looking as she was inspecting a pear.

"Think you could help us out, here?"

She looked up curiously to see her beloved with a child. "What's going on?" she asked as she put down the pear and her basket of fruit. But the moment she saw the sick puppy, no explanations were needed. "Oh!" she cried out sadly as her sympathies took over. She reached for her waterskin and pulled some of the water out. It surrounded the small, cold body and glowed.

The little girl's face lit up with surprise at the miracle she was witnessing, and it caught the attention of several other shoppers. But it was a long, tense moment before Katara finally stopped her efforts.

The puppy began squirming, kicking the blanket loose from around him, and happily started yipping, jumping up and licking the little girl's face. She also started laughing and dancing in the street with the puppy in her arms. While the small group of villagers gasped and exclaimed how amazing it was.

The girl turned to Katara and bowed five or six times. "Thank you! Thank you so much!" she cried, with the puppy still licking her face the whole time.

Katara smiled. "It was nothing..." she tried to say.

But Aang put a hand on her shoulder. "It was everything." He should know. From all the times she's saved his life. From the iceberg, from drowning, from being struck down by lightning. From the knowledge that he, and the world, wouldn't exist without her.

Katara blushed at all the attention. "I'm just glad I could help." And as simply as that, she went back to picking out fruit.

Aang found himself just as amazed at the ongoing miracle inside her. A whole new life, just starting to show at her belt. That was something else he could never do. He might be the spirit that protected the world, but in his eyes, Katara embodied the sacred spirit of life. Together, they were destined to create a beautiful and loving world.

So he was once again patient with her as she went back to squeezing each and every pear to test for absolute ripeness.

_A/N: If you recognized this, you're not imagining things. I submitted this to KF and my DevArt account for Kataang Week 2 back in March of '09. Only slightly edited._


End file.
